Digital Commons Network^™

Mass Tourism And Sustainability Discourses: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Stakeholder Communication Across The Canary Islands, Iceland, And Puerto Rico, Carmen Collins

Theses and Dissertations

This study analyzes 123 websites from the Canary Islands, Iceland, and Puerto Rico, each including an equal number of tourism businesses, environmental organizations, and governments from each region, to examine the rhetorical digital communication strategies used and the textual differences between these websites. Thematic analysis was the methodology employed in this study. Ten themes were found inductively from the data, which are: 1) economic value framing, 2) cultural identity and heritage, 3) technological mediation, 4) inspiring guilt, awe, and urgency, 5) sustainability as an instrument, 6) intergenerational responsibility, 7) global versus local contestations, 8) accessibility and inclusion, 9) transparency and …

Advising With Heart: How Institutional Selectivity And Size Shape Emotional Labor In Higher Education Academic Advising, Dallas W. Maddox

Theses and Dissertations

Academic advising serves as a vital bridge between students and their educational experiences and success, yet the emotional complexities of this meaningful work remain underexplored. This mixed-methods study examined how institutional selectivity and size influence emotional labor awareness and application among academic advisors, addressing a critical gap in understanding the human dimensions of advising relationships. The research explored whether advisors at smaller, selective institutions demonstrate enhanced emotional labor competencies compared to colleagues at larger, more inclusive institutions. Eleven dedicated academic advisors participated in this study, representing experienced professionals with 5-17 years of advising experience across four institutional categories defined by …

Deconstructing Shifting Narratives: Critical Discourse Analysis Of Terminology Trends In Unfpa’S State Of World Population Reports (1978-2024), Naqib A. Noory

Theses and Dissertations

Rooted in both scholarly inquiry and lived experience in global development, this study explored how language shapes power, inclusion, and representation. It analyzed the evolution of population and development discourse in UNFPA’s State of World Population reports (1978–2024) using Fairclough’s Level 1 Critical Discourse Analysis framework. Giddens’ Structuration Theory provided a broader lens linking linguistic change to the interaction between institutional structures and human agency. A theory-based coding framework, drawing on Malthusian, Senian, Spivakian, and MDG/SDG paradigms, guided the analysis of evolving discourse. Findings revealed a layered narrative: earlier scarcity framings persisted beneath newer development language; rights and empowerment rhetoric …

Domestic Worker Abuse Among Diplomatic Force: The Need To Enhance Communication For Domestic Worker Safety, Martyne A. Volcy

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates patterns of domestic worker abuse in the working relationship between a foreign migrant domestic worker and their diplomat employer. This study focuses on the role of communication as a protection for domestic worker safety. The aim of this research is to explore the unique employer-employee relationship between a domestic worker and diplomat, and whether there are safeguards in place that allow for the domestic worker to perform their duties, without circumstances of domestic worker abuse. This study examines the relationships between communication, knowledge, and power within the system of Diplomacy through the lens of domestic employees alleging …

Understanding Parents’ Information Seeking About Adolescents’ Use Of Social Apps Using Theory Of Motivated Information Management, Aimee E. Miller-Ott, Lynne Kelly, Caleb T. Carr

Faculty Publications - Communications

Many parents have concerns about what their adolescent children are doing online, including potential risks of their tweens and teens encountering people who may want to harm them. Some fear they do not know what their children are doing online and may be motivated to seek information to alleviate their uncertainty. This study applied the theory of motivated information management (TMIM) to examine parents’ information management process amid feelings of uncertainty surrounding their adolescent children’s use of social apps. Respondents (N =146) were parents/caregivers of adolescent children recruited using Prolific to complete a survey measuring the components of TMIM …

The Emerging Social Media Water Cooler? Motivations For Reddit Use In A Niche League, Jan Boehmer, Brendan O'Hallarn

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

Social media play a key role in sport marketing—with athletes, teams, and leagues directly engaging with their audiences. While Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have received much attention in the sport marketing and communication literature, research on Reddit is scant. This is particularly noteworthy, as the platform is growing rapidly and promises utility for users with nonmainstream interests to find and engage with each other. This study employs a uses and gratifications approach to investigate how prevalent Reddit use is among fans of the United Football League (UFL), what motivates users to engage with the platform, and whether Reddit use leads …

Causal Effect Estimates Of Online E-Cigarette Marketing Exposure On Future E-Cigarette Harm Perception And Use, Paul T. Harrell, Nicholas T. Williams, Kara E. Rudolph, Rachel Ayala Guzman, Ateeqa Ijaz, Nicole Rychagov, Aaron Null, Silvia S. Martins

Department of Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Background

Globally, over 10 million youth use e-cigarettes; United States use, in particular, dramatically rose in the late 2010's, exceeding year-over-year increases from any other substance in over four decades. This rise has been partially attributed to youth online e-cigarette marketing exposure, but has not been appropriately studied.

Methods

We examined youth data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) spanning the dramatic increase period (Waves 4, 4.5, and 5; 2016-2019). We estimated average risk differences (RD) for Wave 5 e-cigarette harmfulness perception and use comparing all youth versus no youth reporting past-month online e-cigarette marketing exposure in …

Managing The Mood: How Managerial Communication Shapes The Experience Of Emotional Labor Among Restaurant Employees, Brynn Olverson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Restaurant work is emotionally demanding work for servers and bartenders. Organizational Support Theory (Eisenberger et al., 1986) suggests that employees’ perceptions of their organizations’ support can bolster the negative side effects of such work. However, past instruments used to measure these perceptions do not distinguish between types of emotional experience, nor separate perceptions of emotional support from other forms of support. Likewise, OST notes that supervisors play a key role in influencing perceptions of organizational support, but more work is needed to determine specific communicative behaviors that can increase perceptions of organizational support. The study at hand proposes that managers' …

The Fertilization President: A Rhetorical Analysis Of The United States’ Rebirth Of Pronatalism, Kara Vetch

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The United States experienced one of the lowest birth rates in decades in 2024 and has been blamed by policymakers for poor economic and societal outcomes. To combat this, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to encourage healthcare insurances to lower the cost of fertility treatments. Policies encouraging more births align with pronatalist ideologies, the belief that higher national birth rates are better for society. Furthermore, Vice President JD Vance and social media influencers, Malcolm and Simone Collins, have built a strong resurgence of pronatalist ideologies through public addresses and interviews long before Trump’s executive order. For an in-depth …

Confessions From The Barre: Embodying The Impossible Ideal Body Worker, Jessica M. Rick

Faculty Publications - Communications

This autoethnographic manuscript examines how ideal worker norms operate through embodied discipline within commercial fitness culture by tracing my experiences as a plus-size barre instructor. Drawing on feminist autoethnography and organizational communication scholarship, I introduce the concept of the impossible ideal body worker to describe how instructors are simultaneously required as labor yet persistently misaligned with aspirational aesthetics. I analyze how fitness labor demands not only physical competence but aesthetic compliance, emotional regulation, and continual bodily self-surveillance. Structured to mirror the arc of a barre class – from Warmup to Cool Down – the manuscript reveals how organizational power circulates …

Nbc Peacock North Winter 2026 Newsletter, Peacock North Staff

NBC Peacock North Newsletter

Highlights include: Al Roker is our Guest Speaker, NBC Turns 100! --Tom Wolzien interviewed by Karen Curry and Marilyn Altman -- When Vinnie Novak Met Fidel Castro -- Silent Microphones -- The Oscars will be Streamed in 2029

A Meaningful Theory: 25 Years Of Relational Dialectics Theory In The Journal Of Family Communication, Lindsey J. Thomas, Kristina M. Scharp

Faculty Publications - Communications

In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Journal of Family Communication (JFC), the present essay celebrates two and a half decades of relational dialectics theory (RDT) in JFC, highlighting the reciprocal relationship between theory and journal. The authors, both of whom have a breadth of experience in conducting RDT research, first provide a history of RDT and an overview of key terms and assumptions. The essay then traces the history of RDT through the first 25 volumes of JFC. A review of the RDT-based original research articles in JFC turns an eye toward the family …

Bodies, Bottles, And Emotions: Emotional–Material Tensions In Exclusive Pumping, Jessica M. Rick

Faculty Publications - Communications

Exclusive pumping (i.e., providing breast milk solely via pumping) is increasingly common in the United States, yet remains largely invisible in public discourse. This study uses photo-elicitation interviews to examine how exclusive pumping mothers narrate the emotional and material tensions of their feeding journeys. Participants’ photographs revealed profound pride in sustaining breast milk for their children, alongside frustration at not nursing “naturally.” Participants also documented the substantial responsibilities, financial costs, and emotional labor inherent in exclusive pumping. Despite these challenges, mothers framed their experiences through cultural narratives of intensive and total motherhood, positioning exclusive pumping as a morally and socially …

Stages Of Being Foreign As Portrayed In Daughter Of Keltoum And Lost Birds, Fran Hassencahl

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

In this paper, I use the intercultural communication model, The Stages of Being Foreign, developed by anthropologist Oberg (1960) and modified by Gullahorn & Gullahorn (1963), Lewis & Jungman (1986), and Ward, Bochner, and Furnham (2001) to explain the experience of culture shock. This model describes the stages that individuals experience when they leave, either voluntarily or involuntarily, their home country/culture and must adapt to a new culture. These stages as described by Oberg are a preliminary stage (a spectator stage), an increasing participation stage, the pit of the culture shock stage, the adaptation stage, and for some migrants a …

Digital Diplomacy And Activism: Sustaining Institutional Legacy Through State-Proxy Discursive Competition In The Aftermath Of The Usaid 2025 Suspension, Maryam Alaa Elprince

Capstone and Graduation Projects

This study examines how the 2025 suspension of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) transformed the arena of U.S. foreign-aid diplomacy by eliminating the agency’s operational capacity and erasing its digital presence, thereby redistributing discursive authority across a fragmented communicative field. The research aims to determine how diplomacy adapts when a bilateral institution central to American soft power is dismantled through top-down decision, and whether discursive power exercised online can extend institutional relevance and legitimacy beyond structural collapse. Using an interpretivist qualitative design that combines digital-forensic reconstruction, document-based content analysis, and elite interviews  with top ranking officials, the …

Reward Deficits In Co-Occurring Social Anxiety And Depression: The Roles Of Anhedonia, Boredom, Loneliness, And Covid-19 Social Restriction, Nathan M. Hager, Alicia L. Milam, Hannah C. Hamrick, Benjamin Swanson, Matt R. Judah

Psychology Faculty Publications

Prior research points toward reward deficits as crucial to the link between social anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder. However, studies have not explored specific types of reward deficits or how social-environmental factors may impact them. The current study examined whether the indirect effects of three reward deficits (anhedonia, boredom, and loneliness) accounted for the connection between social anxiety and depression. Questionnaires were collected in a sample of college students (N = 523) during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing examination of environmental stressors (i.e., remote learning and current friend network size) on reward deficits. Indirect effect models …

Crisis Communication Guidebook For Small And Medium-Sized Food Business: From Theory To Practice, Yixin Li

Masters Theses

This creative thesis aims to develop a practical crisis communication guidebook for small and medium-sized food businesses. Compared with larger businesses that have greater human and financial resources, small and medium-sized food businesses are often more vulnerable to the influences of crises on revenue and reputation. For this reason, they have a bigger need for practical and systematic crisis guidance. This project is grounded in crisis communication theory and analyzes existing literature in order to translate academic research and theoretical knowledge into an applied guidebook.

The guidebook is organized into three sections based on the timeline of crisis development: before …

Speaking For The Families: Organizational Socialization Of Military Spouses In Volunteer Leader Positions, Virginia Klaus

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Military spouses holding volunteer leadership positions in military unit family readiness groups, provide a link between commanders and families of service members. They act within military organizations as the only official voice of spouses, a stakeholder group recognized as influential in retention rates and force readiness. Despite their importance, military spouses are often portrayed in research as passive members, taking on roles to meet the expectations of their peers and military organizations. That contradicts historical evidence of military spouses as active organizational members who have socialized other spouses, and as family advocates who have challenged military organizational practices and policies. …

Legal Professional Identity Development: An Exploration Of The Social And Emotional Processes By Which Law Students Transition From Novices To Professionals, David Hall Abney Ii

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

This dissertation seeks to heed the call for expansion of instructional communication research (ICR) beyond the undergraduate classroom and undergraduate learning objectives by exploring older learners and higher-order affective learning objectives. Legal professional identity development (LPID) is a discipline-specific type of higher-order affective learning that is conceptualized as a continuous nonlinear process that begins in law school and extends throughout a lawyer’s career, involving the internalization of the legal profession’s core values and norms and their integration with an evolving identity. Using a pragmatic ICR approach and a mixed-methods design, Phase 1 employed individual interviews and focus groups to investigate …

Can Love Bloom On A Battlefield: An Analysis Of Queer Militaristic Fanfiction, Brandon Bost

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

It is noted that readers and fans hold unique and valid interpretations of texts, interpretations that become expressed in fan works like fan art, memes, or the subject of this study, fanfiction. This study performs textual analysis on queer fanfiction in Metal Gear Solid and Code Geass fandoms. It examines the unique relationship militarism holds with intimacy, and how intimacy intersects with violence and control in unique ways in these fan texts. Within these fanfics, militarism can serve as a barrier to intimacy, forcing relationships to adapt to militaristic structures within these fan interpretations.

Exploring The Relationship Between Self-Esteem And Communication Among Equestrians In Facebook Groups, Jenna Young

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

People’s interpersonal relationships and social groups are connected to their self-esteem. Equestrians, a social group unified around riding or working with horses, form identities based on their involvement in the equine industry, whether that be recreationally or professionally. Equestrians’ subjective views of self-esteem may be related to their overall well-being. Theories related to self-esteem and identity indicate that communication within social relationships, like within the equine industry, may impact an individuals’ sense of self-worth. Facebook groups have increased in popularity in the equine industry due to the ease of communication between equestrians. Therefore, this study investigated the relationship between self-esteem …

Conflict Management In Heterosexual Romantic Relationships: A Cognitive Dissonance Perspective, Benjamin Grissom

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

This paper examines how cognitive dissonance corresponds with conflict management strategies in heterosexual romantic relationships from the perspective of romantic partners. The paper synthesizes current findings on how conflicting beliefs and attitudes impact partners' approaches to handling disagreements. Patterns are identified in how cognitive dissonance co-occurs with competition, avoidance, accommodation, compromise, and collaboration. Findings suggest that the discomfort arising from holding conflicting cognitions corresponds to their conflict management approaches depending on the degree of discomfort. Additionally, relationship length is examined as a moderator of the connection between cognitive dissonance and conflict management. Understanding these perceptions can provide insights into enhancing …

Students As Information Responders – Extending Our Understanding Of Students At A Pwi, Anyiah S. Chambers

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

As school shootings continue to rise across the United States, understanding how students respond to and share information during crises has become a critical concern for higher education institutions. While prior research has examined the role of students as first information responders (FIRs) during emergencies, few studies have investigated how these processes unfold among Black and non-Black students at predominantly white institutions (PWIs). This mixed methods study is a replication and extension of Omilion-Hodges and Edwards (2021), examining how undergraduate Black and non-Black students at PWIs evaluate, construct, and disseminate crisis-related messages, particularly during active-shooter events. Grounded in channel specification …

Hyena Den Distribution, Human-Hyena Interactions And Mitigation Strategies In The Greater Amboseli Ecosystem, Katherine Elizabeth Davis Matczak

Honors Theses and Capstones

The Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta) is a prevalent predator across Africa, recognized for their noticeable gait and powerful jaws which enable them to maul and scavenge on prey. Due to human population growth and encroachment onto wildlife territory, the overlap between human settlements and hyena den sites has become a growing concern, particularly regarding livestock predation. Livestock is intrinsic to livelihoods across Africa, with most individuals deriving their livelihoods from pastoralism. This paper provides an evaluation of den proximities to communities, hyena diet preference, human-hyena conflict/attitudes, and mitigation strategies used to protect hyenas, livestock, and the people. Results …

Social Media, Masculine Body Ideals, And The Drive For Muscularity: A Serial Mediation Model Across Sexual Identities, Sean P. Mcdaniel

Theses and Dissertations

Body image concerns among men are increasingly prevalent yet remain understudied compared to women’s experiences. Drawing on objectification theory, the present study examines the relationship between social media influence and men’s drive for muscularity through a serial mediation model. Specifically, the present study investigates whether the internalization of masculine body ideals and engagement in body surveillance behaviors mediate the link between social media influence and the drive for muscularity. Furthermore, the present study model attempts to explore how these processes differ across sexual identities, given evidence that sexual minority men face distinct sociocultural pressures regarding appearance. Adult male-identifying social media …

A Delphi Study: Communication Practices For Expert Elementary Administrators During Day-To-Day Crises On Elementary School Campuses, Anthony Michael Langford

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this Delphi study was to identify the communication practices expert elementary school administrators consider the most effective for informing their district office, staff, students, parents, and the community during day-to-day crises. The study also evaluated the effectiveness of these identified practices and determined the best methods for implementing the top three practices in each area. Methodology: This Delphi study focused on three areas of research: (a) the practices expert elementary administrators use to communicate during day-to-day crises, (b) the way expert elementary administrators rate the effectiveness of those practices, and (c) the methods expert elementary administrators …

Know Fear: The Culture Of Fear In Community Conversations, Penelope Meredyk, Lotus Porte-Moyel, Fiona Carson, Cosley Bruno, Barrett Clement, Sophia Sproull, Morgan Davis

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

“K(no)w Fear” is an award winning piece of verbatim theater based on word-for-word interviews and collected research that's goal was to cultivate a connective and thoughtful community open to exploring what shapes us all: fear. Our GLI Capstone team gathered the resources for this theater piece by conducting interviews with a mixed demographic of people we know as well as strangers on the street, asking questions like: “How do you feel about death?” and “If fear were a place for you, where would it be?” With consent, their answers were used to build an immersive, verbatim theatre piece where actors …

Viral Misunderstandings: Reddit Posts And The Covid-19 Infodemic, Julia C. Knutson

Scripps Senior Theses

Information epidemics or “infodemics” became the center of misinformation conversations, due to a global increase in information spread surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. While many academic scholars and institutions, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) attribute the cause of infodemics to anti-science attitudes and the public’s lack of scientific literacy, scholars in Science, Technology, and Society argue that analyzing misinformation within these isolated bounds limits our understanding of its underlying social and historical contexts. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study for misinformation analysis reveals a gap in our current understanding of how people who resonate with or spread …

The Etiology Of Sexual Pain In American Christian Women: Associations Of Sexual Debut, Maternal Teachings On Sex, And Abuse History With Pain Severity, Joanna Sawatsky, Lori Mize, Keith Gregoire, Arielle Hodges, Rebecca Lindenbach, Shelia Gregoire

Faculty Publications - Department of Communication and Cinematic Arts

Background: Sexual pain (SP) affects a significant proportion of women, with lifetime prevalence ranging from 7% to 46%, but is poorly understood. While conservative religious affiliation has been identified as a potential risk factor since the 1970s, the mechanisms underpinning this association remain insufficiently characterized.

Aim: To investigate the etiological factors contributing to SP among Christian women in the United States who attended church frequently in adolescence, with a focus on the roles of sexual debut timing, maternal explanations of sex and abuse history. The study also explores variation in SP presentation by severity, distinguishing cases by the presence or …

Marginalizing Messages, Emotional Impacts, And Coping Strategies: Exploring The Experiences Of Bangladeshi Female Gamers In Online Multiplayer Gaming Spaces, Tahura Tabassum Tari

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This study explores the experiences of Bangladeshi female gamers in online multiplayer gaming spaces, focusing on the marginalizing messages they encounter, the emotional and social impacts, and the coping strategies they use. Although online gaming is often seen as an open and inclusive digital space, for many women it remains shaped by sexism, exclusion, and cyberbullying. In Bangladesh, these experiences are further influenced by patriarchal norms, moral policing, and gendered expectations. Using a qualitative research design, this study employed in-depth semi-structured interviews with Bangladeshi female gamers who actively participate in online multiplayer games, along with cyber-ethnographic observation of gaming-related Facebook …